Safety clamp



March 1, 1960 R. F. NORMANDIN 2, 2

SAFETY CLAMP Filed Aug. 51, 1956 IN VENT OR ATTORNEY The inventiondescribed herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or forthe Government for governmental purposes, without payment to me of anyroyalty thereon.

This invention relates to an improvement in clamps for releasablyjoining layers of cloth fabric or the like.

An important object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedclamp for joining layers of cloth lying in the same plane but orientatedin various directions within the'plane such as occurs with achildsdiaper and a tab extending from the lower edge of the childs undershirt.

Another object is to provide a new and improved clamp having a shapewhich is unlikely to pass through a childs esophagus and thereforeunlikely to be swallowed by the child.

A further object 'is to provide a'new"'and improved clamp having arounded body which allows it to rollwith irritation of the skin. Afurther object is to provide a new and improved quickly releasable clampwith a minimum of projections nitude of which may be varied orcontrolled by the user of the clamp.

Other objects, capabilities and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent during the course of the following description whereinreference is made to thee-Facin which like numerals are, used todesignate like parts. throughout the same and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention showing layers of cloth being clamped thereby;

Figure 2 is a side elevation view of the clamp shown in Figure l,

Figure 3 is an end elevation view of the clamp shown in Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal section taken along line 4-4 ofFigure'3, l Figure 5 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in Figure 1,e I Figure 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of theinvention showing layers of clothbeing clamped thereby,

Figure 7 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in Figure 6 on anenlarged scale,

Figure 8 is a. plan .view of this embodiment showing nited 311M655Patfif retained Mar. 1,1960

means for limiting movement in one direction of portions of the movableclamping means,

Figure 10 is a fragmentary vertical transverse section taken along line10-10 of Figure 7, and

' plane of a'line corresponding to the line 1111 in Figure 8.

Referring now to the drawing wherein for the purpose of illustration,Figures 1 through 5 show a preferred em; bodiment of the invention, theimproved clamp of'the present invention comprises a body portiongenerally designated by the number 12 which is preferably formed from aunitary section of clear plastic or lightweight metal and a movableclamping member, preferably of the samematerial, designated by thenumeral 13., v The clamp body 12 comprises a generally U-sha'ped.portion defining generally parallel opposed legs 14 and 15, ofsubstantially rectangular cross section, joined at. one end by anarcuate portion 16 as shown in Figures 1 and 3 which isalso ofrectangular cross section as'shown:

in Figure 4. i The inner surface of this arcuate portion to be clamped.The free ends of said legs 14 and 1 5 have opposed arms or projections18 and 19 extending: therefrom in the same direction 'andin parallelplanes at: approximately a right angle with said legs as shown imFigures 2 and 4 so as to define fixed jaws disposedina the bodymovements of the wearer and doesnot cause opposed spaced relation. Thesearms are preferably of.

equal length and of generally rectangular cross section: graduallydecreasing in thickness toward their free ends. It will thusbe seen thatthe clamp body 12 comprises duplicate body members each conformed todefine substantially right angularly disposed portions interconnected ata single region remote from the juncture of the angu larly disposedportions so that the angularly extending portions 18 and 19 form fixedlyspaced jaws.

The opposed inner surfaces of the legs 14 and -15 and fixed jaws 18 and19 with the exception of the surfaces forming terminal enlargement 17are preferably provided with a friction surface such as the serrations20 shown in Figures 1 and 4 of the drawing to improve the grip-- V pingaction of the clamp on the cloth or like material to companyingdrawing,forming a part of this application,

be clamped. I

The movable clamping member 13 may be similar to a flat headed machinescrew or the like and it is threaded into an aperture in the fixed jaw18. At its'inner end,

m the clamping member 13 is preferably slightly upset-as best shown inFigure 5 after being threaded into jaw 18 to prevent its inadvertentdisengagement therefrom. and to increasethe surface area thereof bearingagainst the materialj to be clamped.

In the operation of this embodiment of the present in% a vention, themovable-clamping member 13 is backed off- Ia'yers of cloth being clampedthereby withaportion of i'ng'the movable clamping means in'j noperatl veposition with;-'a portion of the body broken away to show" the which theclamping member is withdrawn prior to the sufficient-1y sothat thelayers of material 22 to be clamped= may be'received in thespace'between the fixed jaws 1-8 and 19, cajre'jbeing taken to makecertain that some po'r tion of each layer of material to be clamped'liesinft'hat portion of the opening between the movable clamping member 13and the portion of the fixed jaw 19.- opposed thereto; The clampingmember 13 is then advanced toward jaw 19 by rotation thereof withrespect to the; clamp body a sufiicient number of turns to-firmly engage thejrnaterials 22 between said clamping member and the opposedsurface of fixed jaw 19. It will be noted th at thi s clampin'g actionmay be achieved by relatively few turns of the clamping member 13depending upon the thicknessof thematerials to be joined and the. extentto insertion of the materials. It should be further noted that thefriction surface 20 affords additional strength to the gripping actionof the clamp.

The release of materials being clamped is accomplished by merelywithdrawing the movable clamping member 13 by turning same and removingthe clamp from. the materials.

The embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 6 through 10 includesaclamp body 23 and movable clamping means designated as an entirety bythe number 24. Thetclamp body 23 is generally similar in construction tothe clamp body 12 of the first embodiment of the invention and includeselongated arms or jaws 25 and 26 and a generally U-shaped portion 27interco'nnecting the jaws 25 and 26 adjacent one end thereof and fixedlyholdjugthe same in opposed spaced relation so that one face of jaw 25 isopposed to the corresponding face of jaw 26.

The movable clamping means 24 comprises a pair of arms 28 and 29 bothpivoted to swing independently of each other on a single pin 3t;anchored in the fixed jaw 25 at the end thereof connected to theU-shaped portion 27 as shown in Figure 7. Arms 28 and 29 preferably arecast from a lightweight metal or may be formed from sheet metal ofchannel shape in cross section. Each of these arms has a bifurcated endfor embracing the fixed jaw 25 and engaging upon the pin 30 (Figure 10)pivotally to connect these arms to the clamp body 23, the arm 28 beingswingable in the space between the opposed faces of fixed jaws 25 and 26and the arm 29 being swingable toward and from the side of jaw 25opposite its opposed face into and out of nested or jack'knifed relationwith this opposite side as shown in Figures 8 and 9.

The first arm 28 has a portion 31 on its free. end of substantial extentdisposed at an angle to the pivoted end thereof and conformed to bedisposed in a plane approaching parallelism with the plane of theopposed face of fixed jaw 26 when this first arm is in operative posi-.tion so as to cooperate therewith in clampingmaterial to beheld by theclamp. This first arm thus constitutes the movable clamping member orjaw of'thisclarnp. Preferably the fixed jaw 25 is recessed to receivethesecond swinging arm 29 in nested or jackknifed relation, and thissecond arm has a locking lugo'r clip 32 formed thereon which is adaptedto snap into and out of a complementary recess 33 in the fixed jaw 25releasably to hold the swinging arm 29 in nested or jackknifed position.

Reacting between thefirst swinging arm or clamping jawZS and swingingarm 29 is-an expansion spring 34 which biases these two parts inopposite angular directions. This spring is housed in a pair oftelescopically interconnected tubular members 35 and 36, the member 35being anchored to the swinging arm 29 and the member--36 to the Swingingjaw 28. These telescopic membersare of arcuate shape in an end-to enddirection on a radius centered on the pivot pin '30 so that they willtelescope without binding when the swinging jaw 28 and swinging arm 29are rocked on therpin 30, and the fixed jaw 25 has an arcuate bore o'rpassage through which the telescopic member 35 freely passes. To limitoutward swinging movement of the swinging arm 29, theteleseopic member35 is-provided with a bead 37 on its free-end for engaging on the bottomof'a counterbore 38 in the fixed jaw 25. Telescopic member 36 is ofsufiieient length so that it'will'remain engaged in member 35 whenswinging-jaw 28 and arm 29 are at the outer limit'to which they aremovable from each other as-shown in 'Figure 9.

The opposed surfaces of fixed jaw 26 and swingable clamping jaw 28 arepreferably provided with friction surfaces such as the serrations 39shown inFigures 7, 8 and g of the drawing to improve the gripping actionof the, lamp. on t ma ia s a ped. therein Inthe operation off thisembodiment ofthe present invention, the arm 29 is first released fromthe fixed jaw 25 and; swingable clamping jaw 28 isdepressed in thedirection of fixed jaw 25. The clamp is then positioned over the edgesof the material 40 to be joined, this material being received in thespace between the legs on the U-shaped portion 27 on the clamp body andthe fixed jaw 26 and movable clamping jaw 28 in the same manner as inthe operation of the first embodiment of the invention and as shown inFigures 6 and 8. Movable clamping jaw 28 is then released and engagesthe material to be clamped as shown in Figure 8. Swinging arm 29 is thenreturned to the nested or jackknifed position as shown in Figure 8 andthereby compresses the spring 34 causing the full biasing force of thisspring to be exerted on clamping jaw 28 to increase the gripping actionof the clamp to a maximum.

The release of materials being clamped is accomplished by merelyreversing the steps of the clamping operation set forth above with theexception that it will frequently be found unnecessary to manuallydepress the movable clamping jaw 28 prior to removing the clamp from thematerial.

A modification of the embodiment just described, which is shown inFigure 11, includes a clamp body similar to the clamp body 23 and havinga fixed jaw 25 corresponding to the jaw 25 on the clamp 23. A clampingjaw 28' is pivotally mounted on a pivot pin 41 housed in an opening 42in the fixed jaw 25' so as to be swingable in the same way as theclamping jaw 28 previously described. This swingable clamping jaw 28 isbiased toward clamping position by a torsion spring 43 anchored at oneend 44 in the swingable clamping jaw 28' and at the other end 45in thepivot pin 41, the spring being stressed to bias the swingable jaw 23' inthe same direction that the jaw 28 of the previous embodiment is biased.The biasing force of the spring 43 is also applied to a swinging arm 29'similar to arm 29 tending to pivot it outwardly of fixed jaw 25' becausethe ends of pivot pin 41 are swaged or otherwise fixed to the swingingarm 29' as indicated at 46. In other respects this modification of theinvention may be the same as that previously described, and it operatesin the same manner. It should be noted, however, that the swinging arm29 may be omitted from this embodiment of the invention by anchoring thepivot pin 41 to fixed jaw 25' by any suitable means whereby the clampingaction of the invention will still be effective although the means forvarying the biasing force will be limited to depression of swingableclamping jaw 28 by the user.

It is to be understood that the forms of invention herewith shown anddescribed are to be taken as preferred examples of the same and thatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A clamp comprising a body having a generally U- shaped portiondefining spaced generally parallel legs and an elongated projection oneach leg, the longitudinal axes of said projections being substantiallynormal to said legs and both of said projections extending in likedirections from corresponding regions of said legs and in substarytially parallel planes so as to define fixed jaws disposed i-n-opposedspaced relation, and movable clamping means pivotally mounted in thefirst of said fixed jaws and including means-to move at least a portionof said movable clamping means toward and from clamping engagement withthe second of said fixed jaws upon opposite pivotal movement of "saidmovable clamping means with a variable force controllable by the user ofthe clamp.

2. A clamp comprising a body including portions dc: fining elongatedjaws and structure for fixedly holding said jaws in opposed spacedrelation so as to define an unobstructed space between the opposedfacesof the said jaws; a. ampi g ja p o y mounted po sa d b d andvincludin aporti no s b t n i l extent in thespase between the opposedfaces of said fixed jaws conformed to be moved toward and from the inneropposed face of the first of said fixed jaws upon pivotal movementthereof so as to cooperate therewith in clamping and releasing materialto be held. by said clamp, an arm pivoted to swing outwardly of and tojackknife with the second of said fixed jaws on the side thereofopposite its opposed face, an expansion spring disposed between thecontiguous sides of said pivoted jaw and pivoted armso as to bias thesaid pivoted jaw in a clamping direction and the said arm away fromjackknifed position and means for locking said arm in jackknifedposition and thereby increasing to a maximum the compression of saidspring and the resultant biasing force exerted by the said springagainst said pivoted jaw.

3. A clamp comprising a body including portions de-. fining elongatedjaws and structure for fixedly holding said jaws in opposed spacedrelation so as to define an unobstructed space between the opposed facesof the said jaws, a clamping jaw pivotally mounted upon said body andincluding a portion of substantial extent in the space between theopposed faces of said fixed jaws conformed to be moved toward and fromthe inner opposed face of the first of said fixed jaws upon pivotalmovement thereof so as to cooperate therewith in clamping and releasingmaterial to be held by said clamp, an arm pivoted to swing outwardly ofand to jackknife with the second of said fixed jaws on the side thereofopposite its op-' posed face, an expansion spring reacting at oppositeends thereof against said pivoted jaw and said pivoted arm to bias thesaid jaw in a clamping direction and the said arm away from jackknifedposition, means for releasably locking said arm in jackknifed positionand thereby increasing to a maximum the compression of said spring andthe resultant biasing force exerted by said spring against said pivotedjaw and means for limiting outward swinging movement of said pivotedarm.

4. A clamp'comprising a body including opposed structure defining atleast one fixed clamping jaw and fixed structure opposed thereto, a pairof elongated arms swingable upon a common axis in the structure opposedto said fixed jaw including a first arm having a portion opposed to saidfixed jaw and swingable toward and from the same upon pivotal movementof the first arm and a second arm swingable toward and from the first,the said portion of said first arm being adapted to cooperate with saidfixed jaw to clamp or release material to be held by the clamp uponpivotal movement of the said first arm, arcuate telescopicallyinterconnected tubular members centered about said common axis, one ofsaid tubular members being fixed to the first of said arms and the otherto the second of said arms, an expansion spring housed in said tubularmembers for biasing said arms in opposite angular directions, and meansfor releasably locking the second arm at a position at which the maximumefiective force of said spring is applied to said first arm.

5. A clamp comprising a body having substantially duplicate membershaving portions conformed to define clamping jaws and joined at one endthereof to define a clamp body having the configuration of an L in sideelevation and a U in plan and end elevations, movable clamping means,and means to mount said movable clamping means in one of said clampingjaws to effect movement thereof toward and from the other of saidclamping jaws, there being vertical displacement between said clampingmeans and juncture of said duplicate members to permit verticaladjustment of said clamp when used to clamp material.

6. In a clamp a body comprising a generally U-shaped portion havingelongated generally parallel legs and an elongated lateral projectionadjacent the free end of each leg respectively, the longitudinal axes ofsaid lateral pro jections being substantially perpendicular to thelongitudinal axes of said legs and said lateral projections beingdisposed in substantially parallel spaced relation so as to form opposedfixed jaws extending to one side of said U-shaped portion and free ofattachment to each other, movable clamping means and means to mount saidmovable clamping means in one of said laterally projecting fixed jawsfor movement toward and from the other fixed laterally projecting jawsincluding means controllable by the user of the clamp to vary theclamping force applied by the movable clamping means.

7. In a clamp a body comprising a generally U-shaped portion havingelongated generally parallel legs and an elongated lateral projectionadjacent the free end of each leg respectively, the longitudinal axes ofsaid lateral projections being substantially perpendicular to thelongitudinal axes of said legs and said lateral projections beingdisposed in substantially parallel spaced relation so as to form opposedfixed jaws extending to one side of said U-shaped portion and free ofattachment to each other, one of said fixed jaws having a threadedaperture therein on an axis transverse to' the longitudinal axes of bothof said fixed jaws and movable clamping means having a shank in threadedengagement with said aperture so as to be movable toward and from theother of said fixed jaws upon rotation of the said clamping meansrelative to said body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS857,105 Patten June 18, 1907 893,517 Keller July 14, 1908 1,399,233Williams et al. Dec. 6, 1921 1,815,006 Horsting et al July 14, 19312,354,610 Plosky July 25, 1944 2,405,525 Sherman et a1 Aug. 6, 19462,689,037 Knapp Sept. 14, 1954 2,803,119 Jellinek Aug. 20, 1957 FOREIGNPATENTS 1,050

Great Britain Jan. 13, 1912

